Overlooking the river near Chamberlain, a towering figure honors the women of the Lakota and Dakota nations. For travelers drawn to the Mount Rushmore State, this is a stop that rewards a slow look.

The stainless-steel sculpture stands 50 feet tall on a bluff above the Missouri River.

What sets it apart

Its star quilt, made of more than one hundred diamond shapes, shifts in the wind. That detail is easy to overlook, but it helps explain the pull this place has on locals and visitors alike.

Artist Dale Lamphere unveiled the work in 2016 as a gift to the state.

Why it matters

Taken together, these threads say something about South Dakota itself — a place where the old and the new sit close together. However you come to it, this is a place that stays with you long after the drive home.